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Pictured is a painting which hangs above the entry way to the Anaheim Museum. Symmetrical buildings and trees frame a street scene captured by an artist during the early days of the city. 

Anaheim Museum is housed in a an original Carnegie Library Building which was built in 1908 with a grant from the Carnegie foundation. Los Angeles Architect  John C. Austin worked with  Anaheim's frugal Germans and Scots to meet stringent cost specifications tied to this much desired project. 
 

The public wanted and needed a library and the City of Anaheim decided that such an investment could attract commerce and spur growth. The facility reached completion and was officially opened on New Year's Day 1909.  It served its community well for over 60 years, but like so many of the numerous libraries built with Carnegie grants during that era (2,500 in all), it would require costly renovation to meet modern standards for structural safety.

The building fell into a state of disrepair and could have been lost to time like several others in Orange County.